London, 28 October 2026. For immediate release. Issued by BroadbandSwitch.uk and distributed by EIN Presswire at 08:30 GMT.
13.9 million UK homes and businesses could order full fibre broadband today but have not yet done so, according to Ofcom data brought together in UK Broadband in Numbers, a new free monthly tracker from the BroadbandSwitch.uk Data Lab.
Full fibre now reaches 26.3 million premises, and 12.4 million of them have a live connection, a take-up rate of 47% (Ofcom, January 2026 data). Take-up varies widely across the country, from 78% in Hull to 19% in Kensington and Chelsea. Five of the ten council areas with the highest take-up are in Northern Ireland, while Leeds stands at 50%, Glasgow at 43% and Birmingham at 37%. The council figures come from Ofcom's own data, not a survey.
What is in UK Broadband in Numbers?
UK Broadband in Numbers sets out 37 figures on coverage, take-up, speeds, prices and service in one place. Each figure shows its source, the date of the data, how it was worked out and when it will next change. The tracker draws on Ofcom, the Office for National Statistics, Building Digital UK, Openreach and other named sources, and it is updated on the first working day of every month.
How the tracker works
Every one of the 37 figures comes with five things
- A named sourceOfcom, the Office for National Statistics, Building Digital UK, Openreach and other named sources.
- The date of the dataSo you can see how current it is, for example Ofcom's January 2026 coverage data.
- How it was worked outThe sum behind it, for example 26.3 million premises passed less 12.4 million connected.
- When it next changesUpdated on the first working day of every month, with the next change shown on each figure.
- A copy-ready citationCredited "UK Broadband in Numbers, BroadbandSwitch.uk Data Lab", free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Which other figures does the tracker show?
Other figures in the tracker include:
- 82% of UK homes can order full fibre and 89% can get gigabit-capable broadband (Ofcom, January 2026 data).
- Broadband complaints to Ofcom held at 6 per 100,000 customers in April to June 2026, level with the record low set in the first three months of the year. Virgin Media had the fewest at 4, and BT, EE, TalkTalk and Vodafone the most at 7 each (Ofcom, published 26 October 2026).
- 28% of fixed broadband customers were out of contract on at least one service at the end of June 2025 (Ofcom).
- Premises unable to get a decent broadband connection of 10 Mbps fell from 1.1 million in 2017 to 39,000 (Ofcom, January 2026 data).
- More than 3.4 million people had started a switch through One Touch Switch by 3 September 2026, two years after it launched (TOTSCo data, published by Ofcom).
- The average home used 583 GB of data a month in July 2025, up from 531 GB a year earlier (Ofcom).
Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith, founder of BroadbandSwitch.uk, said: "The industry has done a remarkable job of building full fibre, and quickly. The next job is helping people use it. When take-up is 78% in Hull and 19% in Kensington and Chelsea, it is clear that getting the fibre into the street is only half the story."
Are broadband prices going up or down?
On prices, two official measures point in different directions, and the tracker shows both side by side. After inflation, Ofcom finds the average price of a 300 to 999 Mbps connection fell from £68 to £37 a month between 2020 and 2025, at July 2025 prices. The ONS index of internet access prices, which is not adjusted for inflation, has risen 54% since January 2020, against 33% for all consumer prices. The first measure tracks what a fast connection costs to buy; the second tracks what happens to the price of the same service over time.
Broadband prices
Two official measures, two directions
What a fast connection costs to buy
Ofcom: average price of a 300 to 999 Mbps connection, a month, after inflation (July 2025 prices)
Down from £68 to £37 a month in real terms.
What happens to the price of the same service
ONS: rise in the price index since January 2020, not adjusted for inflation
Up 54%, against 33% for all prices.
Dr Martin-Smith added: "More than one in four broadband customers is out of contract, and Ofcom finds that people on a current deal pay £7 to £9 a month less, on average, than those who are not. Switching is far simpler than it used to be: under One Touch Switch, the new provider arranges the move."
Is the tracker free to use and to cite?
The tracker is free to use and to cite. It includes a PDF edition, spreadsheet, JSON and plain-text downloads, a copy-ready citation on every figure, a regional explorer for all 361 council areas and a public corrections log. Households can check whether full fibre has reached their street with the site's full fibre availability checker. UK Broadband in Numbers is in Beta until 1 January 2027, and readers can send feedback through a form on the page. The next update is due on Tuesday 1 December 2026.
The tracker at a glance
- What it is
- 37 UK broadband figures in one place, each with its source, the date of the data, the method and the next change
- Sources
- Ofcom, the Office for National Statistics, Building Digital UK, Openreach and other named sources
- Local figures
- full fibre take-up for all 361 council areas, from Ofcom's own data
- Downloads
- a PDF edition, spreadsheet, JSON and plain text, and a copy-ready citation on every figure
- Updated
- on the first working day of every month
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0, credited "UK Broadband in Numbers, BroadbandSwitch.uk Data Lab"
- Status
- in Beta until 1 January 2027, with a feedback form on the page
Notes to editors
- About the tracker. UK Broadband in Numbers is published by the BroadbandSwitch.uk Data Lab Team at https://broadbandswitch.uk/reports/uk-broadband-statistics/ and updated on the first working day of each month.
- How the figures are worked out. Full fibre take-up is Ofcom's measure of live full fibre connections as a share of all premises that can order full fibre, for January 2026; the 13.9 million is the difference between Ofcom's 26.3 million premises passed and 12.4 million connected. Council figures are from Ofcom's Connected Nations open data for 361 local authority areas. Complaints are complaints made to Ofcom per 100,000 customers; Ofcom treats differences of less than one as comparable. Ofcom's speed-tier price is a weighted average monthly price of standalone broadband, adjusted to July 2025 prices; the ONS index is not adjusted for inflation. The tracker's monthly deals snapshot covers deals listed on BroadbandSwitch.uk, not every UK provider, and is kept separate from the official figures.
- Licence. The Data Lab's compilation, charts and images are published under CC BY 4.0, credited as "UK Broadband in Numbers, BroadbandSwitch.uk Data Lab". Ofcom figures contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ONS figures: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.
- Interviews. Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith is available for interview. Contact details are with this release: 0330 122 1223 and editorial@broadbandswitch.uk.
About BroadbandSwitch.uk
BroadbandSwitch.uk is a UK broadband comparison service run by Upleashed Limited, a company registered in the Isle of Man. It launched in April 2026 and lists deals in price order, cheapest first. Its Data Lab publishes free, sourced research on the UK broadband market, including reports on the switch-off of the copper phone network, market consolidation and full fibre take-up. Like other comparison services, it may earn a commission when someone switches through it.
